"Amnesiac' accused of being an elusive con artist

Eve Mitchell, SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, June 1, 1995

1995-06-01 04:00:00 PDT CUPERTINO -- A man who claims to be suffering from amnesia actually may be the architect of a scheme to elude his bail bondsman and other legal entanglements, according to a company that loaned him the bail money.

A bounty hunter from North Carolina said Thursday that he has been looking for eight months for purported amnesiac Larry Wayne Rhinehart, since he skipped out on $4,500 bond posted for an insurance fraud case.

"He's a con artist. I can tell you that from sources out in Texas that he conned some lady there out of her money," Dan Nelson, general manager and a licensed bounty hunter for Globel Inc. Bail Bonding of Jacksonville, N.C.

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Rhinehart showed up with scrapes and a superficial stab wound to his thigh early Friday morning at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Clara. He says the furthest back he remembers is waking up in a grassy field in the Cupertino hills that morning.

"We posted bond for him. He left town," said Nelson, who added he is also working with Ford Credit Corp. in Dallas to recover a black Ford Probe with Texas plates that Rhinehart allegedly failed to make payments on.

Nelson scoffed at news stories that Rhinehart's claim of amnesia had prompted some people - including women who wanted to meet him - to offer financial help.

Kerby said police would continue to treat Rhinehart as a crime victim regardless of whether he has amnesia.

"From an investigation standpoint, it doesn't make any difference," Kerby said. "If someone appears to be a victim of a crime, we're obligated to investigate."

So far, North Carolina authorities have not requested that Rhinehart be returned to the state to face the insurance fraud case, according to Kerby.

Nelson said the president of Globel, Ron Raynor, will decide whether it's worthwhile financially for the company to come get Rhinehart.

"If he tells me to go, I'll go. If he tells me to forget it, I'll forget it," Nelson said. The company has to absorb a $4,500 loss if Rhinehart does not appear in court in the insurance fraud case, Nelson said.

He said Rhinehart has been sighted in recent months in Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida.

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